Hand tool for cutting out hinge recesses



April 20, 1948.

.zillllulm HI!!!" I nilim lllllll mll HAND TOOL FOR CUTTING OUT HINGE RECESSES W mm "I" In I lllllllll llilJ I I ml c. L. PABCELL 2,440,208

Filed Jan. 17, 1945' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

P 1948. c. 1.. PARCELL 2,440,208

HAND TOOL FOR CUTTING OUT HINGE RECESSES Filed Jan. 17, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

MZM

IIIII Q Patented Apr. 20, 1948 HAND TOOL FOR CUT-TING OUT HINGE" RECESSES Charles L. Barcell, Mariemont, Ohio Application-Januarylh, 1945, Serial No. 573,191

2 Claims. (01. 144-27) This invention relates. to;an improved device for settinghinges'and buttsin doors and doorframes. The tool operates: primarily as: a wood chisel ofpredetermined shape or configuration which, first, is employed to sever or incise the fi bers of; the wood in, accordance-with the outline of the hinge or butt thatnis to be let into the woodof the door or frame and. second, to

remove, to a predetermined depth, the wood which is within the area delineated: in the firstoperationand thereby fornra recess.

The device of the present invention is adapted particularly to be usedby carpenters to simplify hanging upon hinges of a door within its frame.

This operation, is performed at the present time by hand; the carpenter first locates, the points upon the door or-frame at which the hinges are to be placed, and' then carefully chips away the wood so that the hinges may be recessed therein with their outer surfaces substantially. flush with the adjacent surface of the wood. Considerable artisan skill is required in order that each re-. cess will be just big enough to receive its hinge snugly, and in order that the wood will not be chipped or splintered beyond the borders of the opening. 'The carpenter alsof'must be careful not to let the hinge too deeply into the woodof the door or otherwise it will bind when closed. For these reasons the setting the hinges is slow and tedious work and at present even the most skillful of carpenters is not able to. set more than about fifteen to twenty doors in a, working day. A good portion of the total time is devoted to marking the wood along the lines at which it is to be cut.

The present invention provides a hinge. setting tool having cooperating knife or chisel blades, one of which conforms with the outline of the hinge which is to be set, and is employed to sever the fibers of the wood transversely and thereby delineate the recess area. The wood along these lines is cut to a predetermined depth corresponding substantially to the depth of the recess and the wood is cut slightly deeper along the line extending parallel with the grain of the wood than along the lines extending transversely of the wood grain. This construction avoids subsequent splitting and tearing. The other of the chisel members is slidable laterally with respect to the first through a plane corresponding substantially to the extremity or extremities of the first chisel member, whereby it functions to sever, to a predetermined'depth. the wood within the hinge outline. The two chisel members are sus-. tained respectively upon body pieces movable in guided relationship to one another and each of the body pieces has an anvil surface to receive hammer blows whereby therespective chisels or knives thereof can be driven intothe wood to be cut away.

The first chisel member, that is, the one which cuts the fibers 0f the. wood along the outline of the recess comprises one or several sharp edged blade. portions which delineate the opposite top and-bottom edges of the recess and another sharp edged portion extending between the two, to cut the wood in a direction longitudinally of the hinge. The latter knife is arranged to extend into the wood deeper than the sidewise pieces because of. the fact that the grain of the wood usually extends in this direction and is much more susceptible to tearing. and to chipping. By cutting the wood along the line parallel to the grain. to a greater depth it has been determined 1 that unintentional splintering beyond the margins does not occur later on when the second knife comes into the wood to remove it from the incised area. The body piece which holds these outline chisel members is constructed and arranged to provide a stop against the wood surface whereby the depth of penetration is controlled, and also is constructed so. that it may be set against the edge of the wood whereby the width of the recess is made uniform from door to door and frame to frame.

Thus, in the operation of the device the second chisel is moved outwardly to a point beyond the first; the tool is set upon ,the door or frame at the area where the hinge is to be placed; the first chisel is then driven into. the wood by striking upon its body piece with, a hammer; and afterward the second chisel is hammered across the area delineated by the. first to cut the wood away to the predetermined depth in one pass and thereby form the huge opening. The wood is removed substantially in one chip if the door or frame is of the usual pine, gum or the like and, inasmuch as thesecond chisel is guided and cuts the wood as it advances under. relatively light hammer blows, the sunface of the recess is smooth and uniform and there is no need for the use of shims to compensate for errors in depth.

Typical devices constructed in accordance with this invention are shown in the accompanying drawings and, from the foregoing general description and the following detailed discussion of the devices illustrated, those skilled in the art readily will comprehend the various modifications to which the invention is susceptible.

Figure 7 is a plan view similar to Figure showing a modified form of device.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 4 of the modified form.

guide arms [6 have notches cut therein, corresponding to wide open position, which are adapted to be engaged by ball detents l1 urged toward the notches by means of springs I8 seated in bores [9 in the side arms 4. This construction prevents inadvertent disassembly of the head 2 from the body I and also facilitates the positioning of the parts in a wide open position at the start of a recessing operation. In its outward position the head'2' forms a convenient handle for the tool at a point somewhat remote from the boss 8 which is first struck with the hammerafter the tool has been placed upon the The head 2 has fastened to its lower face a clearing chisel member 20, the plane of which .'corresponds substantially to a plane passing Figure 9 is a view showing the, modified form 7 disposed upon a piece of wood with thesecond chisel in the process of being driven into the wood to clear the recess after the first has severed the wood along the" hinge outline.

Figure 10 isan elevation similar to Figure 3 showing further details of construction of the modified form of'device.

The tool shown in Figures 1 to 6 comprises two cooperating body pieces indicated respectively at l and 2. The body l is generally of U shape and, in the construction shown, comprises a cross member 3 spanning two side arms 4-4 and being' interconnected therewith through the screws 5 which extend through the cross member into threaded'engagem'ent with the side arm. If desirable, this body may be made of one-piece construction, for'instance, as a forging. At its upper surface the body I carries a head 6 which is fastened thereto by means of screws 1 which are threaded into the side arms 4, and the head at its outer surface has a'boss 8 which forms a projection or anvil upon which the head may be struck with a hammer.

The body I, preferably at the interior faces of its U shape, carries side knives 9-9 which are fastened to the side arms 4 respectively by means of screws ill. The back edges of these knives abut the underneath surface of the head plate 6 whi1e t he forward edges are sharpened to out into wood. 1 I

Intermediate the side knives 9-9 is a knife I l fastened to the cross piece 3 by means of screws l2. This knife also has its back edge abutting the underneath surface of the head plate 6 and its forward, sharpened edge [3 preferably extends beyond the forward, sharpened edges of the side knives 9, for instance, a distance of a thirty-second to a sixteenth of an inch approximately. Thus, the side knives 9 extend beyond the bottom face of the body I as shown in Figure 5, and the longitudinal knife ll preferably also extends slightly beyond the side knives 9 for the purpose previously indicated. These three knives, or more as shape may dictate, form the hinge outline in the wood into which they are driven.

At their extremities opposite the knife H the side arms 4 have stops l5 extending outwardly therefrom beyond the bottom face of the body, these stops being adapted to engage the edge of a piece of wood while the knives lay over the surface of the wood, whereby the spacing of the longitudinal knife H from the edge is governed.

Side pieces 4 of the body respectively are drilled or slotted to receive rods or guide arms I6 which extend laterally from the head 2; in this manner the head 2 is guided in its movement relatively toward andfromthe body I. The

throughthe extremities of the outline knives 9 and II; that is, the chisel 29 is spaced below the lower face of the body I at a distance corresponding to the depth of the hingerecess 'to be out. Chisel 20 is fastened to the head 2' by means of screws 2| and the outward edge of the head opposite the chisel 20 terminates in 'a central anvil surface 22 which is adapted to be struck by a hammer to drive the knife 20 through the wood and thereby form a chip. It is to be noted that the lower face 23 of the chisel 20 is fiat, the forward edge being sharpened by the upper chamfer 24 whereby chip formation is facilitated and whereby the bottom of the recess being cut is traversed only by a flat surface of the chisel. The inward'movement of-the head with respect to the body I is limited by abutment of the leading'edge 25 of the head 2 upon the ends of the side arms 4 just before the chisel 20 reaches the chisel H. Likewise, chisel 20 substantially spans the side knives 9, any portions of the wood not actually out or severed through cooperation of these chisels being so narrow andweak as to be easily split out and broken away.

The modified form of construction shown 'in Figures '7 to 10 is substantially the same as the;

one just described except that the longitudinal outline knife ll of the body I is mounted atthe outer longitudinal edge of the cross piece 3, for

instance, through screws 26, whereby the overall size of the unit is reduced and the construction somewhat simplified. Thus, in this construc-.

tion the cross member 3 resides inwardly of the longitudinal knife and its lower face is spaced upwardly from the lower faces of the side 'arms 4. The side knives 9 in this construction have portions, indicated generally at 21, which extend underneath the lower face of the cross member 3 into proximity with the knife ll whereby the continuity of the incised outline is obtained.

Head 28 of the body I, in the, modified form of construction, has surfaces sloping from a central peak 29 which forms the anvil for the.ham-

mer. In both this construction and the previous one the anvil, disposed centrally, distributes the hammer blows to the chisels 9 and l l and drives them evenly into the-wood, the depth being-.lim-i ited by abutment of the body upon the surface of the wood. In both forms of construction the. knives may be easily removed for sharpening,"

and replaced conveniently when worn out. For each different size or shape of hinge a different setting tool'is required. Howevenin' recent years hardware manufacturers have stand-T ardized the dimensions of door hinges and butts;

only a few sizes are available for conventional doors, and the carpenter therefore need have only one or two tools constructed in accordance with the present invention to accommodate the sizes he will be called upon to mount in the majority of instances. The representative tools shown herein are constructed primarily for setting hinges of the conventional rectangular shape but it will be understood that the knives, if desirable, may be configurated to the outline of fancy curved or ornamental hinges.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A hinge setting device comprising a head, a wood severing knife of U-shaped configuration extending beyond a surface of said head, that portion of the knife at the bight of the U being disposed to separate grain of the wood longitudinally and extending beyond said surface a distance greater than the portions of the knife at the adjacent sides of the U, a second head having guide means engaging the first head for relative movement of the two along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the extremities of said U-shaped knife means, and a second knife carried by said second head for cutting to a predetermined depth the wood within the area incised by said first knife means.

2. A hinge setting device comprising a flat body plate having an anvil surf-ace on the upper surface thereof, knife mounting blocks secured to the underside of the plate, said blocks arranged in a U configuration and having knife members secured thereto and extending laterally from the underside of the plate and arranged contiguously with respect to one another for delineating the outline of a recess, two of said blocks having parallel bores therein adapted slidably to receive a pair of guide rods, a movable head secured to the outer ends respectively of said guide rods, the head having a blade secured thereto and disposed between said guide rods and parallel therewith, said blade arranged to cut away the wood within said delineated recess area to a predetermined depth.

CHARLES L. PARCELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 302,058 Thurston July 15, 1884 453,045 Gutzman May 26, 1891 761,861 Wagner June 7, 1904 962,535 Sigoloff June 28, 1910 991,062 Hoglund May 2, 1911 1,295,386 Thompson Feb. 25, 1919 1,650,565 Alexander Nov. 22, 1927 2,089,121 Hartung Aug. 3, 1937 2,261,055 Dulaney Oct. 28, 1941 

